Tuesday, 8 March 2011

Bacco QVB , Sydney CBD

Bacco QVB Menu

Usually when my parents are here visiting we usually end up having lots of Japanese foods. I'm partly to blame for that since I'm the one who decide where we eat at :P
I think this is the first time that my dad requested for some Italian - his reasoning was that my mom wanted to try an authentic Italian foods - my mom replied by rolling her eyes LOL
That's the thing with my dad, if he wants something, he'd say its my mom who wanted it - whatever you say dad (we know the truth anyways).

I decided to take them to Bacco QVB for lunch as I know they do tasty casual Italian food and the most important part , they make great cakes too ^_^

Breakfast - Cappuccino

We got there at 11.00 and the lunch menu is not available till 12.00pm, so rather than scrambling around to find somewhere else to have early lunch, we just decided we'll have the coffee and cakes first then lunch. Problems solved !

Pear Caramello

My favourite cake at Bacco, the pear caramello always satisfy my craving for sweets. Layers of milk chocolate and caramel mousse on top of chocolate nougatine layer - yummm...

Ciocollato

This layers of decadent chocolate mousse would hit the spot for chocolate lovers - a tad too rich and decadent for my taste, can't have too much of it.

Lunch Time ! - Sparkling Water

When the QVB clock chimes 12 times, I quickly grab the attention of the waiter who was probably already on standby observing me, fidgeting since 11.55am -___-;
Once again...I ordered way too much for just the 3 of us....wait...maybe more like 2.5 of us since my mom is not a big eater.

I picked a few items from the antipasti & spuntini menu, little bit of this, and a little bit of that.
Something light and not to heavy for early lunch :)
Of course if something more substantial is what you are after, they have a good selection of pastas and mains.

Caprese Bruschetta $18.00
wood fired sourdough bread with cherry tomato, bocconcini cheese, basil & oregano

The caprese bruschetta was perfect, the sourdough bread was nicely toasted, fresh and crisp. 
The topping of juicy cherry tomato, creamy bocconcini and fragrant basil and oregano was just what it needed, something simple and light.

Vegetariana Insalata $17.00
mixed leaf salad, roasted peppers, eggplant, zucchini & mozarella
w/ Bacco's basil pesto vinaigrette

The salad arrives in a generous portion, a mountain of mixed salad leaves with various roasted vegetables, we got peppers, eggplant and zucchini. 
I usually don't order vegetarian dishes (me is carnivore, for sure) but I actually loved this salad. The roasted vegetables were sweet and delicious, all their salads also comes with seeded sourdough bread slices.

Carpaccio di Manzo $18.00
beef carpaccio w/ pine nuts, mixed sautéed wild mushrooms, rocket & shaved parmesan

I was quite taken aback when I saw how rare the carpaccio looked - somehow it had a more rare appearance than the usual carpaccio I've had. My mom was pretty freaked out when she saw it LOL.
The carpaccio was actually slightly seared as the oil was hot so it would have cooked it slightly - hence the pinkish colour. ( Thanks to Tina who pointed it out ! ^_^)
Despite it's appearance, it was seriously good !! The beef carpaccio, though sliced slightly thicker than the standard carpaccio, was so tender that it melts in your mouth. 
The sauteed wild mushrooms had a fragrant garlic flavour, then you get the nutty crunch texture of the pine nuts, balanced out with fresh crisp rocket and sharp parmesan. The one down side to the dish was that there was too much olive oil, it was getting greasy towards the end.
In saying that, I would order this again :)

Arancini di Riso $16.00
crumbed & fried saffron and mozarella rice balls served with Italian tomato compote

The deep fried, crumbed balls of saffron rice stuffed with mozarella cheese never fails.
Thin crispy crust, creamy rice and of course the melting, stringy mozarella...mmmmmmmmm.
The Italian tomato compote was quite tangy and clean which balances out the rich arancini balls. 

Calamari Fritti $17.00
seasoned flour-dusted calamari, crisp fried & served with Agro dolce sauce

Another favourite dish of mine at Bacco, their calamiri fritti always deliver.
Very crispy, lightly battered and tender calamari , served with an agro dolce sauce, the Italian version of sweet and sour sauce.

2010 Christmas @ Queen Victoria Building

(It's embarassing how long it took me to write up this post  - christmas...my goodness... -____-;)

My parents were happy with the Italian fares that Bacco has delivered, they for sure was very satisfied and if not too full, thanks to their daughter's over ordering habit.

Bacco would be my place to go to if I'm craving for Italian food, the dishes are decently priced, tasted good and the atmosphere is casual and relaxed. 
Perfect place for catching up with friends over a quick meal or just for coffees and maybe something sweet too ^_^

Bacco Wine Bar Pasticceria, QVB on Urbanspoon

8 comments:

  1. wow alot of food indeed! but that always happens. cause i tend to do that too! all of them looks delicious!

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  2. Beautiful looking arancini and desserts! And don't worry, we all have posts that date back that far! LOL

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  3. mel : the problem comes after the meal when you feel like a Michelin tyre man LOL

    joey : LOL !! Okay, I'm not feeling too slack then, lots more backdated post to write up :P

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  4. heh desserts before lunch i like your style :P

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  5. I love Bruschetta! I think I need to visit Bacco just for their Bruschetta.. nom nom nom.

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  6. suze : if only i can do that every lunch hehehehhe

    kay : it was nom nom nom indeed !

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  7. I was going to say the carpaccio looked rather cooked for what it should be!
    I love the pear cake - all that mousse plus healthy fruit too :)

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  8. tina : actually, now that you mention it, my memory comes back to me , the oil was hot so it would have seared the carpaccio a little bit ( I have failed as a blogger *sob*)

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